Dyfty Untitled
by dyfty
Summary: Not exactly sure where this is going yet, summary and title will be changed as the story progresses. Basically, Lofty realising he has feelings for Dylan. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Lofty blinked his eyes open slowly as he woke, arching his back as he stretched. He furrowed his eyebrows as he became aware of his surroundings, realising he wasn't in his own bed. He wasn't in any bed for that matter.

It took a few seconds for Lofty to realise he was on Dylan's boat. He must have fallen asleep after listening to A Christmas Carol. A sense of guilt washed over him, he had probably annoyed the ED doctor by overstaying his welcome.

Sitting up with a wince as his back cracked, probably from being curled up in Dylan's armchair all night, he noticed something. There was a blanket draped over him. That hadn't been there last night. Lofty cheeks flushed as he looked at the dark green blanket, running his fingers over the soft material. Dylan must have covered him with it last night after he'd fallen asleep.

For some reason, a strange flutter erupted in Lofty's stomach at the kind gesture on the doctor's part. He played with a loose thread on the blanket as he looked around the room. The coffee table had been cleared, their drinks and the cassette recorder gone. Lofty's gift from Dylan still remained, however, and the nurse smiled to himself as he looked at the small blue hairbrush sitting in the gold box.

The ED doctor had all but thrust the box into Lofty's hands last night, muttering something along the lines of "it seems as though you've never used one before, so now you can start". Lofty had laughed at that. He knew Dylan hadn't meant it as an insult, although he did think Ben's hair could be neater.

Lofty smiled to himself at the memory and looked to the clock hung on the wall. It was still early; he and Dylan had a couple of hours before their shift started. The bushy haired nurse stood with another stretch and a quiet yawn before heading to the kitchen, deciding to whip up a nice breakfast for Dylan as a thank you for letting him stay.

He rooted around the small kitchen before deciding on scrambled eggs and toast. He placed some bread under the grill, as Dylan didn't have a toaster, and set to making the scrambled eggs.

Just as he was finishing up, Dervla padded into the kitchen and rushed over to greet Lofty. The nurse grinned softly, kneeling down to give her some attention.

"Morning, girl." He said softly, in case Dylan was still asleep.

Dervla licked at Lofty's face in response, her tail wagging excitedly. Ben chuckled, stroking her coarse grey fur for another moment before getting back to the breakfast. Dervla sat at his feet while he cooked, looking towards the bedroom door as if she were waiting for Dylan to wake.

Lofty dished up the scrambled eggs and buttered the toast before setting it all down on the small wooden kitchen table. Just as he finished making two cups of tea he heard Dylan emerge from the bedroom.

The doctor shuffled into the kitchen, still looking half asleep. He was dressed in some dark blue pyjamas and a pair of brown slippers adorned his feet. His hair was a bit of a mess, sticking out at all different angels, but Lofty thought it made him look younger. It was cute.

Woah.

Cute?

Lofty shook his head quickly, noticing Dylan frowned when he spotted the table, laid with food, and looked to the nurse who grinned sheepishly.

"Morning." Ben said as he placed the mugs on the table, smiling at Dylan. "I made breakfast."

"I can see that." Dylan responded, voice deeper due to sleep. "Why?"

Lofty shrugged, sitting down at the table and wrapping his hands around the steaming cup of tea. "Just wanted to say thank you and sorry for falling asleep. You didn't have to let me stay."

Dylan also took a seat at the table, gaze focused on Lofty. "Yes, I'm well aware I didn't have to."

The comment caught Lofty of guard and he stared at Dylan as the doctor tucked into his scrambled eggs. Was that Dylan's way of saying he wanted Ben to stay? Lofty wasn't sure, but he pushed the thought away and tucked into his own breakfast.

"Merry Christmas, by the way." The curly haired nurse said after a moment of silence as the two ate.

Dylan glared slightly as he sipped his tea. "I almost forgot it was Christmas."

Lofty rolled his eyes, smiling softy. "I don't understand how you can't like Christmas."

"And I don't understand why you've never used a hairbrush before."

Lofty narrowed his eyes playfully, kicking the doctor lightly under the table. "Rude."

Dylan looked up at him then, and Ben swore he saw a small smirk tugging at the older man's lips. Lofty continued to glare, however, and even pouted his lips.

"Do you really hate my hair?" he asked with a fake sniff.

It was Dylan's turn to roll his eyes then, looking back to his plate as he shovelled some egg onto his fork.

"I don't hate your hair, I hate your hair on other people. It's messy and untidy, and it just looks like overused mop. But not on you."

And with that, Dylan gulped down the last of his tea before heading off to the bathroom.

Lofty blinked as he watched Dylan's retreating figure.

Was that a compliment?

If it was, it was by far the strangest compliment the nurse had ever received.

The strangest compliment that had Lofty's stomach fluttering and his cheeks flushing pink. It was the same sensation he had felt with the blanket earlier.

Lofty swallowed roughly, gulping down his own tea. Dervla watched him from where she sat beside the table, her head tilted to one side. Lofty gave her the rest of his eggs while he finished his tea, no longer hungry. He stared blankly across the room, the doctor's words playing over in his head.

Once the two had both showered and dressed, they left the house boat and dropped Dervla off at Doggy Day Care before making their way to work. In the ten minutes it took the pair to reach the hospital, Lofty had tripped and skidded at least six times on the icy roads. Dylan had caught him each time, grabbing the nurse by the arm and steading him. Lofty was grateful, of course, he didn't exactly want to end up a heap on the floor every time they walked across a patch of ice, but it didn't help his situation.

The nurse was now noticing more and more things that Dylan said or did that had his heart thumping in his chest and his stomach doing backflips. He was starting to act like a silly little school girl with a crush. He swore he had even felt sparks when his hand had brushed Dylan's as they hung up their coats in the staffroom.

Lofty shook his head at his ridiculous thoughts and headed out of the staffroom, eager to work. He made his way to Rita who stood at the nurse's station and decided that the best thing that he could do would be to focus all his attention on his work. If he kept himself busy and distanced himself from the doctor, then surely his unusual feelings would go away and everything would go back to normal.

So that was his plan.

Work hard and avoid Dylan.

Problem solved.

"Ah, Lofty." Rita smiled at him as he reached her. "You'll be working with Dylan today, alright?"

Or maybe not.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lofty!"

Said nurse made a quick escape out of the ED staffroom where Dylan had just cornered him and bolted down the corridor, diving into the first closet he came across. The curly haired man sat down, leaning back against the door of the small dark cupboard feeling utterly ridiculous.

The morning hadn't started off too badly, to be fair. After Rita had told him he would be with Dylan today, Lofty had managed to keep himself calm and act in a professional manner as he worked along side Dylan. Well, that was until about ten minutes ago.

They had treated a few patients and, apart from the odd blush and Lofty occasionally staring at the older man, everything had been going fine.

That was until Dylan ordered Lofty to stitch up a patient who had a nasty gash on their leg. He'd said, 'it was the perfect opportunity to neaten up his suturing skills'. Lofty's heart had swelled at this. He appreciated that the doctor was trying to help him towards getting a promotion. It also filled the nurse with a sense of pride. Dylan hadn't once said that he didn't think Ben was ready for the promotion, of course there was room for improvement, but he Dylan believed that the nurse was capable.

So, Lofty had taken a seat on the stool beside the bed the patient was laying in, and set to work stitching up the cut. He'd made sure to take Dylan's advice as he worked, keeping each stitch the same distance apart and keeping his hands as steady as possible. He wanted to impress the doctor and show that Dylan's support and advice wasn't going to waste.

Lofty had almost finished when Dylan had leaned over Lofty to assess his suturing. The nurse was caught off guard, not expecting Dylan's body to be so close to his own, and the doctors mouth so near his ear.

Lofty had tried not to shiver, he really did, but he could feel the older man's steady breaths puffing lightly against his ear and the back of his neck. His heart had raced and his cheeks had flushed and, before he knew it, he was dashing out of the cubicle.

Dylan had called after him, Lofty had ignored him and headed straight for the staffroom. He'd slammed the door shut and slumped onto a stool, his head in his hands. He'd sat there for about ten minutes, his breathing shaky and his face still flushed, before Dylan entered the staffroom.

The doctor had looked a mixture between angry and concerned once he found the nurse. Lofty didn't know what was worse.

The nurse had expected Dylan to scold him, anyone would expect it after bolting in the middle of treating a patient. God, if Rita found out she'd probably kill him.

But Dylan hadn't shouted at him.

He'd sat down calmly beside the nurse at the counter and asked him what was wrong.

Lofty had no idea what to say to the older man beside him. He couldn't just come out with "I think I like you as more than a friend now", this was Dylan Keogh. Dylan Keogh, the man who rarely fully understand and coped with his own emotions, let alone everyone else's.

So, Lofty lied and told the other man he wasn't feeling well, that maybe it was the scrambled eggs they'd had this morning not agreeing with him.

Unfortunately, this was Dylan Keogh. Dylan Keogh, the man who rarely fully understand and coped with his own emotions, let alone everyone else's, but could somehow tell a lie a mile off.

He'd picked up on Lofty's lie straight away, brushing it aside and placing a hand on the nurse's arm. Lofty's heart had kicked into over gear again at the touch, and he'd looked up to the doctor, meeting his eyes.

This was the fatal mistake. He could see Dylan's mouth moving as the doctor spoke to him, his full attention on the nurse, but Lofty couldn't hear him. He was too busy staring at the older man's eyes, having never noticed how blue they were before. It also shocked the nurse to see how much emotion Dylan's eyes held, he'd never noticed that before either. The ED doctor usually closed off his emotions any way her could, but Lofty could see the pure, human emotion locked deep in those sapphire blue eyes.

He must have stared for quite a while, as Dylan had taken to flashing his pen light in Lofty's eyes, trying to snap the nurse out of his daze.

Lofty had flushed in response, tilting back on the stool to escape Dylan's worried, searching eyes. Unfortunately for Lofty, he leant too far back and toppled off the stool, landing with a thud on the staffroom floor.

Dylan had jumped up to help him up, but Lofty just wanted to run. And so he did.

Lofty sighed shakily as he sat in the closet, running a hand through his curly hair. Dylan was probably searching for him, worried that the nurse was actually sick. Ben hated himself for making the doctor worry, all because he couldn't keep his stupid emotions in check.

He sat for a moment, weighing up his options for what he could do next. He couldn't just sit in a cupboard and hide all day, Rita would soon notice he was gone and be on the hunt for him. Lofty couldn't have that, not when he'd been trying to so hard to impress her and prove he was ready for this promotion.

But if he went back to work, he'd have to see Dylan and somehow explain his unusual behaviour. What could he say? How could he possibly tell the doctor what he was feeling? He'd probably ruin the special friendship the two had only recently formed, the friendship he treasured.

Lofty sighed again, raking his hands through his hair. Whatever he did, he had to make a decision soon.

Before the nurse could make his decision, the cupboard door was yanked open with such force that he fell backwards, lying in the doorway with someone standing over him.

"Lofty?"


End file.
